Just can't fathom auto writers' voting results

Overall, in the Canadian Car of the Year voting, another failure of democracy:

Car: Right car company; wrong model. The winning Volkswagen GTI is a terrific little car, but it appeals to a very narrow niche. The Golf Wagon TDI that (as regular readers will know) gained the majority of my support, is simply the car that about 70 per cent of all Canadians need. It should have won in a walk.

Utility Vehicle: No arguments here about the Subaru Outback. The Lexus RX 450h hybrid CUV is an expensive answer to a question nobody asked; the VW Touareg TDI Clean Diesel is even more expensive, even more "niche."

Best Technology: I am on the select jury that votes on this and the Green Technology awards. The winning Audi Drive Select system allows the driver to dial up various settings for various vehicle characteristics, depending to a degree on the model. Things like suspension stiffness, steering response, ESC sensitivity, etc. Good stuff, but not all that new – to me, anyway.

To me, the real best "new" technology was Volvo's CitySafe system, which automatically stops the car if it senses an imminent low-speed inner-city collision. It is in effect a combination of a couple of not-so-new technologies – radar-sensing cruise control and automatic brake application, most often seen in the Brake Assist feature that's available on many cars.

What makes CitySafe unique is that it will bring the car to a complete (and quite sudden) stop (it works only below 30 km/h), thereby potentially eliminating a large number of fender-bender crashes. These days, even a minor bump can cost thousands to repair.

True, at this stage there are enough exceptions to when it will function that its full potential will probably not be reached. In jury discussions it seems this point was paramount in many of my colleagues' minds.

But to me, it is a unique step in what I think and hope will be the right direction.

Best New Green Technology: This category was here-a-hybrid, there-a-hybrid, everywhere-a-hybrid-hybrid, with three of the four finalists being hybrids. My general antipathy toward hybrids has so far been matched by that of the market, which has only rewarded the genre with about a 3 per cent share.

Rounded to the nearest 10, that's zero.

Which led me to like Toyota's plant-based "eco" materials, used for certain plastic parts for which surface quality isn't critical. This too is a small step, but again in the right direction.

The car industry has so far been much better at generating recyclable materials than it has been in using them. If the car companies can start creating a demand for the supply they are already creating, the invisible hand of the market will take over.

Best New Design: The parameters set for this award remind us constantly that this is not necessarily a beauty pageant. A pretty face is probably a requirement, but the interior, ergonomics, functionality, etc., are part of the equation, too.

By those criteria, the winning entry, the BMW 335d, qualifies.

But there is that word "new."

It is in at least its sixth model year with this same basic design. Hardly new at all.

Given that it was deemed eligible for the competition, albeit largely if not solely because of its new engine (which is not supposed to by itself qualify a vehicle for inclusion), it was therefore also eligible for Best New Design consideration.

Of the official finalists, the Audi A5 Cabriolet to me was the only one that had all the bases covered: functional, gorgeous – and undeniably new.

The supposed "expert panel" also has a lot of 'splainin' to do as to why the best new design in the entire field by far – the Cadillac CTS Wagon – didn't even make the short list.

Maybe we need the Herzig Eye Institute to come on board as a sponsor of this award.

jim@jimkenzie.com

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